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By Steve Oko

Nigeria Christian Youth Forum (NCYF), Abia State chapter, has adopted the governorship candidate of the Action Peoples Party, APP, Mascot Uzor Kalu, as its consensus candidate for the March 11 governorship poll in the state.

The APP candidate is the younger brother of the Senate Chief Whip and Senator representing Abia North, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu.

NCYF which addressed a press conference Saturday in Umuahia, said the choice of Kalu was made after a rigorous assessment of all governorship candidates in the state, adding that his wealth of experience both in public and private sectors gave him an edge over others.

Responding to a question on the choice of Kalu, the Publicity Secretary of the association, Comrade John Bosco Ezema, said the APP candidate was the only one among his counterparts that talked about youth inclusiveness in his cabinet.

He also said that a careful perusal of Kalu’s manifesto showed that he was the only candidate that proposed convincing solutions to many challenges of Abia State.

Ezema further said that Kalu talked about the reintegration of sacked non-indigenous Abia workers, a move, the youths said would enhance regional peace and harmony.

The group which said, its membership cut across different denominations and political parties, urged Abia voters, especially the youths to vote en mass for Kalu at the forthcoming governorship poll for a better Abia.

NCYF noted with disappointment, the inability of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to upload results from the polling units during the February 25 polls, and warned the commission against similar occurrences in future polls.

The Christian body alleged that the delays by INEC to transmit results to its server in real-time gave room for the manipulation of the poll results.

It however, urged voters not to be demoralized by the credibility question trailing the last election, assuring it had put in place some measures to checkmate rigging in the forthcoming polls.

Ezema who read from a prepared text jointly signed by the NCFY President, Eugene Okonta; Secretary Iyke Okorie; and himself, said that Abia Christian youths were convinced that Kalu would not let them down.

The text read in part: “The Nigeria Christian Youth forum, Abia State, wishes to make it public that, following a wide opinion sampling, meetings and interactions with the electorates, parties and candidates who will be participating in the forthcoming election and having studied the manifestos of the eligible candidates, the manifesto and the candidacy of the Action People’s Party, gave us a strong conviction of hope.

“We, therefore, call on all Abians to give him their votes. We believe that he will deliver on the mandate of Abians if given the opportunity to serve.”

It further read:”Last election was marred by a lot of irregularities ranging from falsification and altering of figures, intimidation of voters and disenfranchisement which was as a result late arrival of materials to respective polling units

“However, we use this medium to call on the electorates not to feel dejected, downcast and hopeless. We urge youths especially, to add more zeal in order to avoid a repetition of what happened in some parts of the country during the last election “.